Asteroid: Earth Destroyer or New Frontier?

by Patricia Barnes-Svarney

Asteroids sling through space, celestial debris of diverse origins: leftovers from the formation of the solar system, broken offshoots of parental asteroids, or comets that have lost their glow. For the first time in a popular book, Patricia Barnes-Svarney discloses how some asteroids - rich in precious minerals such as gold and platinum - may one day be lassoed and mined by man. She also explores how the natural resources that abound in some asteroids could possibly support human life, leading to their colonization and use as space stations. One day, too, they may reveal to us the secrets of the origins of life. But if an asteroid merely one kilometer in diameter - about the size of eleven football fields end-to-end - were to smash into Earth, it would mean a global catastrophe. And if a larger asteroid - one the size of Vermont - were to strike, life on our planet would come to an end. We know that we've been struck before - from the large and small impact craters that dot the Earth's major land masses. If, as one theory states, the chance of a major collision is currently about one in ten thousand - similar to that of dying from anesthesia during surgery or of being killed in a car crash during any six-month interval - should we be living in fear? How could we possibly prepare ourselves for such a disaster? Patricia Barnes-Svarney, an asteroid enthusiast since childhood, asserts that the threat is real, and that there are better defenses than those now in place. In Asteroid, she vividly evokes both the perils and fascination of these heavenly bodies that have the power to yield untold rewards - and boundless destruction.

304 pages, Paperback

First published August 21, 1996

About the author

First I must appologize to my family for being the kid who always asked "Why?" But that one word asked many times led me to science and writing--especially in the physical sciences. And all of that led me to have quite an wide range of other writing topics--from weather in Antarctica to the many facets of Forensic Science. Yes, I've always been "the geek next door"... and with more than three dozen books to my credit (mostly on science), no one questions my geekiness anymore!

The latest book is from Visible Ink Press--The Handy Forensic Science Answer Book. Thomas Svarney is my co-author, and is one heck of a researcher. (He also has a science background, so we can discuss the mechanics of the climate without scratching our heads in puzzlement...Well, within reason!) The book was interesting to put together and we learned a great deal about forensics. It was especially fun since the subject includes so many different sciences.